Since the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) adopted its extreme joint employer scheme two years ago, local businesses across the country have been calling on Congress to act. As Chairwoman Foxx recently said, “their concerns haven’t gone unanswered. Clearing up the confusion and uncertainty surrounding the joint employer issue has long been a priority for this committee.” That’s why, today, the committee will mark up the Save Local Business Act (H.R. 3441), bringing us one step closer to delivering the joint employer clarity these hardworking men and women desperately need:
• “[The Save Local Business Act] is just one example of how policy changes that reduce regulation and unnecessary red tape can spark optimism within the small business community.” — Matthew Lewis, Sport Clips, Raleigh, NC
• “When you’ve worked your way up from the bottom like I have, you don’t like to see anyone knock you back down. It's time we clear up the confusion of joint employer for local business owners and all of those depending on us, and I am confident that the Save Local Business Act does just that.” — Tamra Kennedy, Taco John’s, Roseville, MN
Since the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) adopted its extreme joint employer scheme two years ago, local businesses across the country have been calling on Congress to act. As Chairwoman Foxx recently said, “Their concerns haven’t gone unanswered. Clearing up the confusion and uncertainty surrounding the joint employer issue has long been a priority for this committee.” That’s why, today, the committee will mark up the Save Local Business Act (H.R. 3441), bringing us one step closer to delivering the joint employer clarity these hardworking men and women desperately need:
“[The Save Local Business Act] is just one example of how policy changes that reduce regulation and unnecessary red tape can spark optimism within the small business community.” — Matthew Lewis, Sport Clips, Raleigh, NC
“When you’ve worked your way up from the bottom like I have, you don’t like to see anyone knock you back down. It's time we clear up the confusion of joint employer for local business owners and all of those depending on us, and I am confident that the Save Local Business Act does just that.” — Tamra Kennedy, Taco John’s, Roseville, MN
“Unfortunately, if the new joint employer standard, as proposed, is enacted, then it will destroy the ability for many middle class minority individuals like myself to be able to use franchising to attain the American Dream.” — Alex Salgueiro, Burger King, Savannah, GA
“Without [contractors], my company and many other family-owned home building firms like it would simply cease to be viable operations … Simply by applying responsible, everyday business practices, we could still be held accountable for the labor and employment practices of third-party vendors, supplies, and contractors over whom we have no direct control.” — Granger MacDonald, MacDonald Companies, Kerrville, TX
“It’s a shame that these types of regulations can really stifle that growth … For us, the hope is that we will get some certainty, so that we are able to take our business to the next level quicker, faster, and help create jobs.” — Kristie Arslan, Pop Republic, Alexandria, VA
“The uncertainty is nothing more than governmental overreach that is crippling eateries like Wintzell’s and discouraging growth throughout the restaurant industry.” — Bob Omainsky, Wintzell’s Oyster House, Mobile, AL
“The joint employer standard doesn’t make any sense. It makes things worse – for entrepreneurs, employees, consumers and communities – and it doesn’t make anyone’s lives better.” —Reem Aloul, Zay Enterprises, Inc., Arlington, VA
“I am deeply concerned that the NLRB’s efforts to expand the definition of joint employer status will transfer control of small businesses from independent hotel owners and operators to large corporations.” — Kalpesh Patel, Image Hotels, Pooler, GA
“It’s disappointing and sad to see that the kind of support I was given that led me to grow successful businesses, is being pulled away because of these new and unfair standards.” — Mary Kennedy Thompson, Dwyer Group, Waco, TX
“Democrats and Republicans have banded together to introduce the Save Local Business Act (H.R. 3441), which will provide precise guidance by setting forth a straightforward rule for the hundreds of thousands of businesses across Florida and the rest of the nation. This is exactly the type of common sense approach that voters want to see come out of Washington.” — Keith Overton, TradeWinds Island Resorts, Tampa Bay, FL
“Unfortunately, it’s not so cut and dried anymore. Under this new standard, a business owner can be liable for employees when it has as little as ‘indirect’ or ‘potential’ control. Most business people find this definition baffling.” — Mike Veneziano, Doherty Enterprise, Allendale, NJ
“Most small business owners do not have in-house human resource departments or legal counsel to advise them on business decisions, so we depend on clarity in the law … That is why the 2015 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) revision of the joint employer standard has turned the Arizona business community upside down.”— Becky Renner, Orange Theory Fitness Centers, Scottsdale, AZ
“I am a typical example of what this bill would do to help me gain certainty in operating my business … Local businesses like mine need that certainty to expand.” — Ed Braddy, Burger King, Baltimore, MD
“If the new limitless joint-employer standards are left unchecked by Congress, the consequences would be harmful for businesses, where stories of personal and professional growth and entrepreneurship are prevalent.” — Azim Saju, HGD Hotels, Ocala, FL
“We must seek expensive counsel to determine if simple decisions – like compiling a brand-wide employee handbook or offering franchisees software to track job applications – might put us in legal jeopardy. The hard truth is that many businesses will step away from offering these crucial benefits rather than take the risk of being a guinea pig in a lawsuit.” — Ali Nekumanesh, Deli Delicious Franchising, Inc., Fresno, CA
“This new standard also prevents us from working with certain start-ups or new small businesses that may have a limited track record. For example, my company will take on certain small businesses as subcontractors, which will often times be owned by minorities or women … With this new standard, I’m now less likely to take on that risk.” — Kevin Cole, Ennis Electric Company, Manassas, VA
“Instead of being a small businessman, I would virtually overnight become a manager for a large company … I now find myself in the position that an unelected Board in Washington, DC can just unilaterally determine that my American dream is over.”—Chris Holmes, CLH Development Holdings, Inc., Tallahassee, FL
“I cannot imagine what I would do if I were stripped of my independence because a different business owner, hundreds of miles away, is facing a lawsuit that has nothing to do with me.” — Clint Ehlers, FASTSIGNS, Lancaster, PA and Willow Grove, PA
“The new joint employer standard is aimed directly at the destruction of small businesses in my local community outside Atlanta, of the small businesses in this state, and in every state across the country.” — Fred Weir, Zaxby’s, Savannah, GA
“I have worked too hard and overcome too many obstacles as an entrepreneur and as a first generation American, to sit idly by while bureaucrats and lawyers attempt to undermine my success and status as an employer — and as a business owner.” — Jagruti Panwala, hotel owner and operator, Ivyland, PA
“This policy pits the little guy against the big. We can no longer be in this together; it’s every entity for itself. That’s not the dream on which America was built.” —Jerry Reese, Dat Dog, New Orleans, LA
“In the end, we may be forced out of business altogether, and that would harm not only our business but our community and the economy of our nation.” — Mara Fortin, Nothing Bundt Cakes, San Diego, CA
“My family and I have worked incredibly hard to build our business over the past nineteen years. I had hoped that this would continue to be my family’s business long after I was gone. Instead, I am now contemplating the possibility that it could all disappear.” — Gerald Moore, Little Gym, Knoxville TN (testifying before the Senate HELP Committee)
“Frankly, if these burdensome circumstances existed when I entered the business, I likely would have chosen another avenue for entrepreneurship.” — Vinay Patel, Fairbrook Hotels, Chantilly, VA
